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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22535779">shadow of the moon</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/hikaristudio/pseuds/hikaristudio'>hikaristudio</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Power Rangers, Power Rangers Beast Morphers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Mind Games, Missing Scene, One-Sided Attraction, canon compliant in that it takes place any time before the finale before u know, the thin line when you're into your crush and her doppelganger</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:20:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,550</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22535779</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/hikaristudio/pseuds/hikaristudio</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's stupid, because the Roxy across from her isn't the Roxy she knew, no matter how much she loved to gloat about the memories she has of her and with them. It never stops being jarring to see her that she can’t control her reactions the feelings of guilt and unworthiness. Unworthy because she's their enemy even if she looks like the girl they knew, and guilty because it reminds her of how she didn't earn the yellow ranger role like Roxy had.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Avatar Roxy/Zoey Reeves, Zoey Reeves/Roxy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Ranger Romance Ficathon 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>shadow of the moon</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/snakelesbians/gifts">snakelesbians</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>happy ranger romance zali! this is cntw because there is a fight fight kiss, but i do think i threaded the one sided feelings zoey feels for roxy that get messy when avatar roxy is in there.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There's a split second when she's out in the field, when she sees Roxy out across from them, that her feet falter and the surprise registers through the rest of her body that the hand she has reaching for her blasters stills millimeters from it. Seeing the walking, talking copy of the comatose girl in their lab out in the real world when Commander Shaw sends them out is something she is never able to prepare herself for. If she has it bad, she thinks Ravi has it worse when he winces when he lands a hit on her.</p><p> </p><p>“It's kind of funny,“ Not Roxy gives a throaty laugh. “Neither of you can't seem to lay a finger on me. I get lover boy, but you too Zoey? It's so unbecoming of the yellow ranger.“</p><p> </p><p>She yells, throwing her weight behind the vault she's aiming at the wall to knock Not Roxy cleanly off her feet.  The Other Roxy is even more nimble than Roxy was, tumbling away as she lands in a crouch. She slides to the floor, her foot barely connecting to hers. It's stupid, because the Roxy across from her isn't the Roxy she knew, no matter how much she loved to gloat about the memories she has of her and with them. It never stops being jarring to see her that she can’t control her reactions the feelings of guilt and unworthiness. Unworthy because she's their enemy even if she looks like the girl they knew, and guilty because it reminds her of how she didn't earn the yellow ranger role like Roxy had.</p><p> </p><p>She puts into clarity all her shortcomings - Roxy is everything she wanted to be, the golden girl of Grid Battleforce and the ultimate ranger, topping even Ravi and Blaze's highest score to place in the when recruitment at Grid Battleforce opened. Roxy worked the hardest out of anyone else, and pushed herself to do constant after hours training. She even held training meetups for the other girls who were in the running for the Yellow Ranger to boost scores. While the Grid Battleforce position was highly competitive, there was plenty of sensitive information released to Commander Shaw amongst potential recruits out to sabotage others who violated the rules to cull the pool, that most of the girls didn't really talk much or interact with each other after. Roxy was the only other girl who wasn't trying to sabotage the other prospective recruits. She even treated her nicely despite her own shortcomings, when she ranked at the bottom of top 5. Though, she wonders if the fact that it was open to others was simply a formality that Commander Shaw had already picked her, because her role had already been decided as the Yellow Ranger given the way her scores, and her attitude, were already miles better than the others.</p><p> </p><p>Simply put, she wasn’t good enough.</p><p> </p><p>Not Roxy snakes her foot out at the last minute as she throws herself backward in a somersault, hoping that the jackrabbit power within follows through with her backward jumps so they could catch the other girl off guard. She runs away, laughing, barely exerting energy as she moves onto deflecting Ravi's close quarters combat with well-place kicks at his legs, feinting to the side as she uses his own momentum against him to toss his aside. She whistles at Zoey.</p><p> </p><p>“Too slow,“ Not Roxy says. “Your form could do with some work. Your footwork is sloppy.“ Not Roxy says. Despite her talking, she was still better, faster, stronger. She was moving further and further back towards the barrel of Morph-X she was getting for Blaze to pick up. It stung, knowing that even the copy of Roxy knew of what she hated. She yells at Ravi, who nods and places his hands at his feet as she runs towards him for him to throw her in the air and aim at the other girl. She snarls, putting all her remaining energy behind the kick once again so the other girl will feel as frustrated as she doe. She barely manages to catch her shoulder, and lands on her feet right behind Roxy. Not Roxy lets out an imperceptible grunt as she staggers back briefly, tossing her head back as she attaches the transporter onto the barrel.</p><p> </p><p>“Not bad, buttercup,“ Not Roxy flashes a grin at her and disappears into a green code. She kicks the floor afterwards, making a connection with Ravi as they both shake their heads and turn to leave the warehouse. Commander Shaw was going to rip them a new one. </p><p> </p><p>Not even minutes when they get into base, Commander Shaw sighs and looks at Ravi before she walks away. She doesn't even bother looking at Zoey because she knows the extent of Ravi and Roxy's relationship more than she knew about her own connection to the girl. </p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>It was something that couldn't be described, a type of click when she appeared. While all the other girls were sabotaging each other, she was trying to perfect her form to climb higher. She tried the diagnostic beforehand, focusing on her weaker areas such as strength. Roxy had seen her one day when she was training in the park, shadowboxing and sat on the grass across from her. She stops briefly, self consciousness flooding in her as Roxy unwraps a lollipop from her jacket.</p><p> </p><p>“You should work on putting her weight into those punches so it's not all on your hands. Bend your legs so they're not gonna hurt later on. And don't put your thumbs inside, it's a hard habit to break but your fingers will thank you later.“</p><p> </p><p>She pops the lollipop, the bright red cherry staining her lips to make them darker.</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks,”  she says, and tries to shake the tingly feeling going through her as she practices her the shadowboxing moves they'd learned to prepare for an actual hit.</p><p> </p><p>“What are you doing here?” She says, barely breaking her streak but entirely aware of how Roxy's eyes bored into her, analyzing her form so that she wasn't breaking from what Roxy had told her.</p><p> </p><p>“I was around the pier and saw you training and wanted to see if I could help.”</p><p> </p><p>“You could be sabotaging me,”  she jokes, and Roxy gives her an imperceptible look before she smiles, standing to take the position opposite from her and throws a few light jabs. </p><p> </p><p>“I could, but I could also not. Look at my face,” she punctuates with an air uppercut. “You never want to tell your opponent where you’re going.” She leans towards the right, ponytail swinging into her face. Roxy’s curls manage to never get in her face, crowding and pushing her into a corner that she barely realizes it until they are nose to nose. </p><p> </p><p>“Never let your enemy box you in,” Roxy points at her as she backs off. </p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>She heads to the training room, upset at everything and throws a punch at the punching bag. None of them wanted to speak to each other after losing the Morph-X, and her best focus is always to drill in the previous workouts she’d done. </p><p> </p><p>She needed to prove to herself that it wasn’t a mistake to pick her, that she wasn’t just a replacement until real Roxy could come back. If she even came back. That was a terrifying thought, that one of them could actually die and a possibility they could reach into. They never talked about that when they recruited. It was always about protecting Coral Harbor ever since Nate was able to make Morph-X into sustainable energy for the city, he was able to make into weapons. She throws her weight into another spin kick against the punching bag, just barely landing on her feet. The smart watch Nate gave her beeps a little, trills to work on her timing as it was less than last time. </p><p> </p><p>She sighs, jams her fist into the punching bag as she begins the sprint around the training room. She’d been running for so long,trying to keep up with Roxy. She advanced from her sixth ranking with Roxy, to arrive before her but she couldn’t make it. She remembers the feeling of her chest constricting with an ache as she turned away back towards her cleaning girl duties. It reminded her of elementary school, and how she got the role of student council instead of student president against Lenora Banks. Good, but not good enough has been etched inside her since then.</p><p>The lights shut off, so only the back small row were on. It’s the only reminder that hours have passed that she spent in there. Sweat sticks to her and exhaustion settles in her bones; the course she began to work on was called the devil’s course by other recruits for a reason.  </p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Roxy was magnetic and welcoming. She had a talent for making the other recruits feel at ease, so much so that they barely even noticed the fact that one of them could’ve very well sabotaged her if they ever noticed how close Ravi and her were. She’s glad no one told on her though, because selfishly, she still needed Roxy there for her.</p><p> </p><p>Roxy appears, and it feels like there’s a dozen of other things they should address that they don’t. All she does is guide her. </p><p> </p><p>“I just know when I have bad odds,” she laughs when Roxy folds her arms, shakes her head. The other girl is so focused on her, she feels a tingle of warmth whenever she moves her into a position to better suit her fighting style.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think you have bad odds. You just need a proper teacher, and it’s hard when it’s a whole group of us competing for the same slot and the mentors they’ve got can only help so many at once. Get in position,” Roxy points.</p><p> </p><p>They parry and strike, whirling around each other. It sometimes feels like she’s orbiting her as opposed to leading the fight, which feels pretty on point. </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“Do you feel like if you're not the yellow ranger, everything else is meaningless?“ Her one two jabs she goes through, increases in speed, stops a little as Roxy says that. “Does it feel like your heart will be crushed if you're not picked? That’s why I’m helping you. You <em> can </em>do this.”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p><br/>
<br/>
She turns in the corner and sees a blur, eyes skittering across the wall that she thinks it’s fatigue. Until Roxy appears in front of her and she yelps, shoving herself backward. </p><p> </p><p>“Hi pumpkin,” Not Roxy says as she gets to her feet. The most shocking bit about the avatar version of Roxy is that she’s just like the Roxy she knew, but meaner. Sharper. </p><p> </p><p>She looks down at her and makes a mock pout.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“Putting in that extra time, good job,” she says, circling around her. Zoey looks towards the door, wondering if she could call for the others. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh don’t bother, everyone’s gone,” Not Roxy shrugs. She stalks ahead and Zoey gets defensive, moving her position to where she can throw herself against the mat to attack the girl's legs.</p><p> </p><p>“How did you get in here?” They circle one another</p><p> </p><p>“I was here once,” Not Roxy leans forward. “I know all of her secrets and a few of my own. I’m glad to see you working on yourself. Roxy was such a saint for helping you”</p><p> </p><p>“I am just as good as you,” she gets up to go into Not Roxy’s face who smirks. </p><p> </p><p>“Say it like you mean it,” she grins as she goes into a spin kick. Zoey ducks, throwing herself backward as she jumps up. She focuses on parrying, getting Roxy to come closer. Not Roxy drops to the floor, grabs her leg to knock her off balance. She barely breaks her fall with her hands, the other girl leaning above her. She hates this Roxy, how off kilter she makes her, and how she's the fucked up version of the Roxy she knew. This girl is all her edges, the inverse of what Roxy stood for and yet, she finds herself drawn to her. She wonders if it's the same feeling Ravi felt when Roxy called him - but she realizes that that time, Ravi really just wanted Roxy back in no matter what form. Evil Roxy lures her in because she's not the other Roxy, who has feelings for Ravi and not her and probably never did. Not Roxy is just another reminder of how she's not good enough to even be her second pick. She yells, sliding to the ground while the other girl jumps up and throws a kick to her chin. She barely manages to duck in time, rolling on her side across the ground. Not Roxy follows, kicking her abdomen as she uses her leg to throw her onto her back. </p><p> </p><p>She pins her hands to her side as she leans down into her face. Her long curls tickle her face as she does so, and if Zoey were crazier, she’d swear that she smelled exactly like the strawberry perfume Roxy wore.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re just never going to be good enough,” she says “But that's okay. Because you can always come with me.” She snarls, rolling them onto the side as she lands a knee jab to the other girl's side. Not Roxy jabs her fingers in her face, making it so Zoey can barely see and presses her face to the side against the mat. She tangles her hands in her hair to pull her off from her as the avatar version of Roxy grins and lets her, straddles her. </p><p> </p><p>She runs a finger along her forehead as she does so, staring at the other girl as she pulls her forward. A clattering of teeth as her lips meet hers, the strawberry scene filling her and overpowering all other senses as her fingers that run along her neck. It's everything she's wanted for months but didn't, because Roxy was in love with Ravi. She kisses back hard, both sets of their teeth nipping hard she thinks they almost draw blood. She doesn't understand why she felt confused when Roxy and Ravi's met each other after they spared because of how she felt for Roxy, but it was ignored and then Nate happened and it was all too much to deal with then and it is now.</p><p>She pulls in closer, the two of them climbing all over the other one. Avatar Roxy pins her against the ground as she takes the kiss and it happens for five seconds, the longest she thinks five seconds has ever felt. Just as soon as it started, it stops, and there is no one in the room except herself and the destruction of the various gym equipment surrounding them. She thinks she's so tired that this was a fucked up lucid dream, except for the fact that there was a little bit of blood drawn at the edge of her lip. </p><p> </p><p>She breathes out shakily, fingers tracing over her lips. She swears she saw the green code of the cyber dimension when she disappeared, dusting herself off and looking around the room to only remembering the echoes of herself as she trained earlier. </p>
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